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What do I do with fresh turmeric?

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I'm pretty sure that the woman from whom we bought the fresh turmeric -- which looks like small ginger rhizomes, only smaller and with a rosy/orangey blush -- had no idea what to do with the stuff. That must be why she bagged it up and gave it to us when we simply _recognized_ it. I'm fairly sure she grew it because it was interesting, and then wondered, "Now what do I do with it?"

I have plenty of recipes that use dried turmeric. But the only cookbook I have that mentions what it looks like on-the-hoof says, "...but you can't get it in this country anyway, so we won't give you any instructions," or something much to the same point.

I have a large handful, maybe 4 ounces of the stuff. NOW what do I do?

Esther

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I have a large handful, maybe 4 ounces of the stuff. NOW what do I do?

Esther

Do you enjoy Indian food? You must have been in an Indian market (Punjabi. etc.) ..... Any dish (like curry) that uses tumeric, ginger, mustard seeds and other Indian spices can be fried (the initial step) with fresh as well as ground. Just would recommend doubling the dried volume using fresh. In that way, fresh vs. dried spices conversions map to ethnic cooking. Enjoy! Let us know what you create! Oh, try to use clarified butter (ghee) if you do an Indian dish.

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Do you enjoy Indian food? You must have been in an Indian market (Punjabi. etc.) ..... Any dish (like curry) that uses tumeric, ginger, mustard seeds and other Indian spices can be fried (the initial step) with fresh as well as ground. Just would recommend doubling the dried volume using fresh. In that way, fresh vs. dried spices conversions map to ethnic cooking. Enjoy! Let us know what you create! Oh, try to use clarified butter (ghee) if you do an Indian dish.

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Blether, I imagine that refers to the whole dried root. The fresh root is much the same as ginger, only smaller. It has the most wonderful floral scent which is not so discernable in dried turmeric.

I love it grated and used when panfrying fish.

In Japan it's also quite popular as a tea, and I had some recently combined with jasmine tea. I surprised myself by liking it! The clean taste of the turmeric went very well with the slight astringency of the jasmine tea.

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Fresh turmeric is easy to chop or grate, although it stains like the dickens – our food processor and cutting board have a permanent orange tinge. In Cradle of Flavor, James Oseland calls for fresh or ground turmermeric in several recipes. One would be hard-pressed to taste the difference between fresh or ground in a highly seasoned curry, but perhaps one could distinguish the difference in a more delicately seasoned dish.

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I like to add extra tumeric either fresh or powdered to curries because it pulls it together ..softens the flavors and just makes it what I like in a final product ..you will not distinguish it but you will know it is there ...

oh yeah it does stain I agree ..that is why my girlfriend from Fiji has all black appliances!!!

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And just to be different, here is a non culinary use! If you are bitten by any flying insect, mosquito etc or suffer a rash from hairy caterpillars or even from nettles etc in the garden, just cut one end of the rhizome flat across, then using a paring knife, cut shallow cross cuts in the open face about 2mm or 1/16" deep, as many as you can without the end falling apart, use this to stipple the itchy area on your skin and within less than one minute all the itching will disappear!

The "easy chicken korma" would allow you to use a whole tablespoon of your termeric! Any dish that has a yellow color to it, whether you're using sweet potatoes, yams, golden raisins, red lentils, saffron, would have an intensified color with turmeric's addition. It is also called Curcuma, haldi, haridra, gauri - I see haldi a lot in Indian recipes. Here's one that's very good (just made some) but only uses about 2 teaspoons turmeric. It's a yellow dal and it comes out looking sophisticated with the unpopped black mustard seeds distributed evenly in the final product: http://bawarchi.com/contribution/contrib5380.html

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Here's a bit from 2005 when I did a class with Cyrus Todiwalla from London's Cafe Spice Namaste when he came through Bangkok:

"Our other spice topic was turmeric. My main reaction to turmeric in the past has been an interest in the alacrity with which it manages to run through my system and come out my fingernails, making me look even more jaundiced than usual. But, it appears, turmeric is the new wonder drug. It is one of the best disinfectants, killing all surface bacteria, and also a coagulent. When Cyrus cut himself on a knife awhile back, a quick dab of turmeric cleaned and clotted the wound quite nicely. Talking with some of my Thai friends about this later, they agreed, it was an old folk remedy to rub tumeric on a wound. Likewise, if a child is hurt, they’ll feed them turmeric in a drink, to address possible internal injuries. A jar of turmeric is also standard issue in most Indian autos, acting as a sealant for radiator failures. In breaking news, Cyrus noted that new research from the US indicates that it can stop the spread of breast cancer cells. Coming back to cooking, it turns out that it is not only important for the colour it imparts, but also, as a coagulent, it will thicken the dishes in which it is used, working from the bottom up."

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Fresh turmeric is easy to chop or grate, although it stains like the dickens – our food processor and cutting board have a permanent orange tinge. In Cradle of Flavor, James Oseland calls for fresh or ground turmermeric in several recipes. One would be hard-pressed to taste the difference between fresh or ground in a highly seasoned curry, but perhaps one could distinguish the difference in a more delicately seasoned dish.

I began looking for fresh turmeric when I was on a Burmese cooking kick, which consisted mostly of cooking out of Under the Golden Pagoda: The Best of Burmese Cooking by Aung Aung Taik. I think Burmese food is interesting because it is in many ways similar to Thai food, but less heavily seasoned (at least I think it is, based on my limited research). Many recipes call for turmeric as the main seasoning, and I think there is a discernable difference between fresh and dried in such cases. However, I also can't tell the difference in highly seasoned dishes.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

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^ I've grown it in a pot with good results. If you have extra, it will also keep very well if you peel it and cover it with a high-proof neutral spirit. I had some in a little glass jar in the fridge like that for months. After a few weeks, a spoonful of the liquid will add color and flavor just like the grated flesh. -L